Inside Alvin

A panorama with my fisheye lens to try and capture the truly sphere-like feel on the inside.

While I did not get the chance to dive in Alvin on the Popping Rocks cruise, I did get a chance to hangout inside the personnel sphere with two of its pilots (Jefferson and Danik) and sketch for a few hours the other day.

Here’s a 2-hour observational sketch of the inside front of the sphere:

There sure are a lot of switches in there!

And here’s what you see when you turn around:

There were many more oxygen tanks, but I chose to just draw one row. You know, artistic license and all that.

I took a few photos as well; this is the view looking up from the port-side seat in the ball:

Did I mention that there are a lot of switches? Because there are:

And wires! All of the wires!

Here’s what Dan Fornari has to share about Alvin’s technology:

Like any high-tech vehicle system (think: airplanes, space shuttle, subway or train master control station), Alvin’s control panels are a maze of wires, switches, meters and display screens. These devices monitor all aspects of the proper functioning for the submarine so science can be safely accomplished. The dials and meters let the pilot know that everything is working properly; the pilot’s main job is safety. The complex interior electronics and other sensors are matched by what is on the outside of Alvin. Most of Alvin’s exterior systems are inside the body of the submarine, underneath the titanium frame and behind the white fiberglass panels that help protect all the cables and make it more hydrodynamic – so the sub can go up, down and forward/backwards more efficiently.

About this expedition: Popping rocks revisited

We will be using the research vessel Atlantis, the submersible Alvin, and the autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry, to find and collect samples of “popping rocks”—basaltic seafloor lavas that contain large amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases trapped in high-pressure bubbles that pop when the rocks are brought to the surface. We intend to use these rocks to understanding the composition and origin of gases in the deep earth. This project began with an expedition in 2016 that was cut short due to mechanical problems. You can still see blog posts from the first trip here, and we will continue adding to them during the 2018 expedition.